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Captoe's Women

2025/11/21 06:02

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Capote’s Women

There’s a poem by Thomas Hardy, “The Convergence of the Twain,” which chronicles the construction of the Titanic, in all its opulence, and the simultaneous formation of its “sinister mate” — the iceberg that is set to destroy it: “And as the smart ship grew / In stature, grace and hue, / In shadowy silent distance grew the iceberg too.”

This poem came to mind as I read “Capote’s Women,” the story of the high-society women of the 1950s and ’60s who were befriended, and then betrayed, by Truman Capote, their sinister mate. In frothy prose — meals are “splendid repasts,” apartments “abodes” — Laurence Leamer describes this “coterie of gorgeous, witty and fabulously rich women.” They married well, and often, passing their days buying lunch, clothes and houses.

Capote called them his “swans.” One of them was the “gorgeous and vivacious” Barbara “Babe” Paley, who “never left the Best-Dressed List” and created “stunning” homes, “exquisitely decorated.” “Stunning” is one of Leamer’s preferred adjectives.

Another swan was Gloria Guinness, another “regular on the Best-Dressed List.” She underwent three starter marriages — to the manager of a sugar factory in Veracruz, to a German count and to the son of an Egyptian ambassador — and enjoyed affairs with, among others, a high-ranking Nazi and the British ambassador to France, before ending up with the banking heir Loel Guinness, who, as luck would have it, had recently been left today’s equivalent of $2.39 billion in his father’s will.

Other swans included Nancy “Slim” Keith, “a stunning California girl,” Jackie Kennedy’s bitter little sister, Princess Lee Radziwill, and Pamela Harriman, who, despite an “ample derrière,” remained, at least through Leamer’s eyes, “stunningly attractive.” Leamer helpfully informs us that Pamela “went nowhere without being exquisitely put together.”

After an early marriage to Winston Churchill’s drunken son Randolph, Pamela enjoyed flings with men including Jock Whitney, Gen. Frederick Anderson Jr., Prince Aly Khan, Gianni Agnelli (who owned “at least 10 magnificent residences”), a Greek shipping tycoon called André Embiricos and Baron Elie de Rothschild. She eventually married Leland Hayward, the former husband of Slim Keith. Five and a half months after his death, she successfully rekindled an old flame, the 79-year-old Averell Harriman. “Only men of power and substance intrigued her,” Leamer notes.

The trouble with reading about Capote’s swans, all so fluffy and flighty, is that it soon becomes hard to tell them apart, a struggle further complicated by the increasingly dizzying Venn diagram of their intersecting love affairs. Their iceberg loomed in the shape of “Answered Prayers,” which Capote had surreptitiously announced to his publisher (“a large novel, my magnum opus, a book about which I must be very silent, so as not [to] alarm my ‘sitters’”) way back in 1958, shortly before the publication of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”

Over the years, Capote, so much more captivating than these women’s boorish husbands, had managed to slither his way into their hearts. Charmed by his attention, they were happy to exchange intimacies of their own for the intimacies of the others. Leamer tells of a manicurist who used to work on Paley’s nails while Capote told savage tales about the other swans. When the manicurist went to do the nails of one of the other swans, Truman would once again be there, this time relaying catty tales about Paley. The story of how Capote published a hurtful extract from his promised book in Esquire in 1975, his ostracism by the wounded swans and his early death from liver disease, has already been expertly told in biographies by Gerald Clarke and George Plimpton.

Legacy of the Swans and Truman Capote

The finale of this tale leaves a poignant message about memory and loss. Capote’s women were products of their time, defined by wealth and appearance. But they were also individuals with complex emotions and dreams that transcended their social status. Leamer’s narrative shows their vulnerabilities alongside their strengths. Capote himself remains a poignant figure—his genius overshadowed by his moral failings. The story concludes with Capote’s public downfall and his painful isolation. Despite his talents, his choices led to a lonely demise at a young age. The swans, once the toast of society, faded into the background, trapped in their glittering memories. “Capote’s Women” reflects societal changes and offers an insightful perspective on friendship and betrayal. This detailed biography showcases how trust can be both a luxury and a liability in the world of the elite. In the end, Laurence Leamer’s engaging portrayal of Capote and his swans enriches our understanding of their intertwined fates. Through the lens of indulgence and ambition, we see that the pursuit of status often comes at a price. The story serves as a bittersweet reminder of glory, loss, and the weight of unfulfilled dreams.

His long-awaited masterpiece never materialized; like so many authors led astray by the blandishments of high society, he had never quite got around to writing it. His publisher called the thin, scrappy manuscript he left behind “unfinished” when it appeared in book form in 1987, but it was closer to “unstarted.” Looked at from another angle, perhaps the swans were the iceberg, and Capote the Titanic.

Characters

Truman Capote: A renowned writer who built intimate relationships with wealthy women, leading to betrayal.
Barbara ‘Babe’ Paley: The ultimate socialite known for her beauty and elegance, she was close to Capote. She was the daughter of the famous Cushing family
Gloria Guinness: A celebrated figure in high society, she held significant sway in social circles.
Slim Keith: A glamorous muse who bounced among affluent men and enjoyed a fascinating life.
Pamela Churchill Harriman: A captivating socialite whose numerous marriages were a significant part of her story.

Truman was going to anoint her a swan—a black swan, perhaps, but a swan nonetheless. Truman thought about sex the way Pamela did. It had very little to do with morality at all. Although Truman was not a big fan of one-night stands, sex was something one did as often as possible with any available partner or partners. Pamela was a little different. She did it only if it might advance her position in the world.

C.Z. Guest: An influential figure in fashion and culture, known for her beauty and charisma.
Princess Lee Radziwill: Jackie Kennedy’s sister, often portrayed as the more controversial swan in Capote’s circle and always jealous of her sister’s fame and wealth.
Marella Agnelli: An Italian aristocrat who encapsulated elegance and allure, drawing Capote’s intrigue. She married the heir to the Fiat fortune and was one of the richest women in the world, but she never trusted Capote.

Key Takeaways

Complex Relationships: Each swan had a personal story that intertwined with Capote’s literary ambitions.
Betrayal: Capote’s need for sensational material ultimately led to his severed relationships.
Social Commentary: The book highlights the opulence and shallowness of high-society life in mid-20th century America.
Fading Glory: The decline of both Capote and his swans mirrors the downfall of their opulent world.

1.What was your favorite swan to read about, and why?

Page’s words had a profound impact on Marella, and she set out to “serve something higher than us all.” She began by working all those months with Page to create the magnificent park at Villar Perosa. When it was finished, she could have invited local schoolchildren or brought in busloads of Fiat workers from Turin during the sweltering days of August. But that was not something she would ever do. A daughter of the European elite, she never ventured beyond her lofty circumstances and never sought to open her doors to those whom she felt did not belong.

2.What do you think each swan provided for Capote, and what do you think he provided for each of them?

Capote offers them the time for listening to their stories, just like Capote listens to the killers Dick and Perry. Swans offer him their secrets and turn out to be the scandals.

A truth teller in a land where that was often considered an

unseemly intrusion

1. What moment do you wish you would have been in the room for?

I wish to be in Marella’s room to see her decorating her garden.

2. Which swan are you glad you werent there for?

“Let’s just say if Pamela had as many pricks sticking out of her as have been stuck into her, she’d be a porcupine.- The legendary polo player Tommy Hitchcock Jr.”

If I were there, I felt so humiliated to Pamela – a daughter in law of Churchill.

3. What do you think ultimately ended the swans glory days?

They had sought wealth and position, not happiness, when all the fame and fortune were gone, their glory will turn into dust.

4. This world doesn’t exist anymore but the take away is that these women, despite all their money are deeply unhappy. Does money erase loneliness or unhappiness?

“Gloria, you are the most beautiful girl in Mexico, and you are smart,” her mother told her. “Never settle for anything in life that is second-best. You don’t have to. You can have whatever a woman can want in this world.-Gloria’s mom” “nobody is willing to admit liking or enjoying money.” It was like water, and one couldn’t live without water.

All the pretty women at that time are taught like this way, money can buy everything, but can’t buy love.

7. Were the days before the internet simpler? These women could never have lives like these today or could they?

How to deal with yourself after reaching the watershed age of forty? All the swans can do nothing with their beauty but to be surrendered with the fate.

No matter when, we need to learn to reflect your own heart not other’s mind

8.Lee Radziwill always secretly hated her more famous and accomplished sister. Would it be hard to live in the shadow of Jackie Kennedy Onassis?

“She’s a remarkable girl. She’s all the things people give Jackie credit for. All the looks, style, taste—Jackie never had them at all, and yet it was Lee who lived in the shadow of this super-something person.” It was not enough to praise Lee. Jackie must be denigrated. The sisters were on a teeter-totter. If one rose up, the other must go down.-Lee

If we focus on outside, it could be hurt, but we focus on our inside, it could be a blessings.

Author:

Laurence Leamer is an American author and journalist. Leamer has also written best-selling biographies of other Americans, including Johnny Carson, the Reagan family, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He has also written a book about Donald Trumps historical resort, Mar-a-Lago. His book, Capotes Women, was a national bestseller, and was adapted as the second season of Feud starring Naomi Watts and directed by Gus Van Sant.

Conclusion:

1."Elegance is good taste, plus a dash of daring" - Carmel Snow (born Carmel White; 21 August 1887 – 7 May 1961) was the editor-in-chief of the American edition of Harpers Bazaar

2. “Trumen Captoe was such a mercurial, many-colored, many-sided person, like a big mirrored ball with light hitting it at different angles- Slim.”

3.How to deal with yourself after reaching the watershed age of forty? All the swans can do nothing with their beauty but to be surrendered with the fate.

4. “Let’s just say if Pamela had as many pricks sticking out of her as have been stuck into her, she’d be a porcupine.- The legendary polo player Tommy Hitchcock Jr.”

5. “Pamela’s a geisha girl who made every man happy-Truman”

6.A woman’s best friend is not a diamond but a little black suit- Gloria”

that lurking inside this cool vanilla lady was a madcap, laughing tomboy-C.Z.Guest

7.Truman fancied that he was the singular observer, but Marella also had a concern for detail worthy of a novelist

Marella’s eighteen-year-old brother, Carlo, also went off to Italy to fight against the Fascists. He was captured and could have been executed.

Marella’s father was a hardworking diplomat with a patriotic streak. After the war, Filippo became the deputy secretary general of the Council of Europe, an important position in a continent striving to create institutions that would prevent the wars that for so long had torn Europe apart.

With such parents, Marella was a sophisticated young woman. After studying set design and art at the Académie Julian in Paris, she moved to New York, where she worked first as a model and then as a photographer’s assistant. She had been engaged to a French aristocrat, who lost her when he sought to delay the wedding a week so he could go grouse hunting. But having reached her mid-twenties, it was time for the still-single Marella to be a little more philosophical about things like grouse hunts.

Marella was upset about the luncheon. She felt that she had been used. She thought she had a unique relationship with Truman. And she was stunned and humiliated.

“I thought I was the only swan-Marella”

8.Gianni’s views were extreme. He was fond of saying, “Ladies are to be treated as sluts, while sluts are to be treated as ladies-Marella’s hub Gianni”

1. I only read a half … so far I have read 5 ladies, I won’t look up any of them so far! I am critical of the way they reached to upper crust. Umm maybe I am more cynical 🤨 That’s why I don’t envy them or admire their splendid life style because there is no ethical value within. I think everyone would have been falling apart and get into this swirling game if they were brought up in that surroundings. Well, it’s good to read this book and be able to see inside of upper class socialites’ minds! (Monica)

2. on the other hand, i feel sad to read their stories, seems like no love but money at that time-a philadering game, ya, really, without this book, i do have different point of view for the upper class (Emma)

3. A truth teller in a land where that was often considered an unseemly intrusion

12“She’s a remarkable girl. She’s all the things people give Jackie credit for. All the looks, style, taste—Jackie never had them at all, and yet it was Lee who lived in the shadow of this super-something person.” It was not enough to praise Lee. Jackie must be denigrated. The sisters were on a teeter-totter. If one rose up, the other must go down.-Lee

Plot

1.Saint Teresa of Ávila: “There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers.”

Trumen is a diminutive, flamboyantly gay author, pioneered the "true crime" documentary literature and is recognized as a milestone in popular culture.

There were no more than a dozen women who Truman could have deemed true swans. Truman chose his swans as if collecting precious paintings that he wanted to hang in his home for the rest of his life. What some dismissed as trivial and self-indulgent, Truman saw as a kind of living art.

Barbara “Babe” Paley was first in Truman’s mind. She was often called the most beautiful woman in the world.

Nancy “Slim” Keith was a stunning California girl with a far more causal style than Babe. Droll and supercharged, she could match Truman bon mot for bon mot.

In the Renaissance, Pamela Hayward would have been renowned as one of the great courtesans of the age.

The Mexican-born Gloria Guinness was the only other swan who compared to Babe in her beauty. Married to Loel Guinness, one of the richest men in the world, Gloria lived a life of splendor in homes across the world. Fiercely intelligent and perceptive.

Lucy Douglas “C. Z.” Guest standing tall and elegant , had an inbred self-confidence rare in Americans.

Marella Agnelli, who was born an Italian princess. Married to Gianni Agnelli, the head of Fiat and Italy’s leading businessman, this highly literate, creative woman was in some senses Italy’s First Lady.

Lee Radziwill far more beautiful and a far better (and more interesting) person than her famous older sister- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

2. Barbara “Babe” Paley- Babe had sought wealth and position, not happiness, and she had achieved precisely what she wanted.

Babe’s mother had inculcated in her three daughters not just the aspiration but the necessity that they marry rich, socially prominent men.

Retrospectives have suggested that Barbara neglected her children while pursuing social status and relied on her husbands wealth to support her extravagant lifestyle.

After her divorce from Mortimer, Barbara received a settlement from a trust fund. In 1946, she met William "Pasha" Paley. William Paley was wealthy and interested in the arts, and sought acceptance in New Yorks café society. Barbaras social connections provided him a better chance of gaining entry into the exclusive circles that had previously eluded him. For Barbara, William Paley offered wealth, security, and worldly experiences. Williams divorce was finalized July 24, 1947.

Babe had sought wealth and position, not happiness, and she had achieved precisely what she wanted.

5. Slim Pickings-social life is her cure all for depression

Slim was born in California, in July 1917, and she was brought up nearby in Pacific Grove. Her businessman father owned several sardine canneries in the coastal town. Her father was the first and most important man in her life, a stronger and more powerful virtue than love.

Slim’s father blamed his wife for her brothers death—and never stopped blaming her.

One day , her father left Slim’s mother and he ask Slim:

“If you also leave your mother’s house, it will prove to the court that she’s an unfit parent—and I won’t have to provide any support for her,” he said. It was a pitiless thing to ask a daughter to do, but he sweetened the deal to make it almost irresistible: “I’ll give you a horse, a little boat, a car when you are ready.”

Slim was being brought up in what most Americans would have considered a life of privilege, but she still had a desperate desire for what her father was offering her. A horse, a boat, and a car weren’t just things—they were freedom.

For Slim, this decision would define her. “I love my mother,” she said. “I’m staying with her.” Her father turned and walked away. She did not see him again until he was close to his deathbed.

Slim married Hawks on December 10, 1941, three days after Pearl Harbor. She had been practically living with the director for two years, as he dealt with his sick wife whose advisors had her file for divorce. For Slim it might have been expected that it would be a neat little skip and jump into matrimony, but she was petrified at taking the leap.

But Hawks’s Slim stand-in, Lauren Bacall, was distinct from her namesake in one key way: rather than fall for the director, to whom she “owed” the role, the husky-voiced teen began an affair with the decades-older Bogart. Hawks wasn’t used to settling for second-best in anything, but this time he doubled down. Not only did he have an affair with the second female lead in the film, Dolores Moran, but he also spent some time with an extra, Dorothy Davenport, who even looked a little like Slim.

Slim knew about these affairs and many others. Hawks had hardly gotten back from their honeymoon when he started up his trysts.

Hawks’s heroes were truth tellers, but Hawks was a serial liar who exaggerated everything about himself. He posed as the great captain of his boat. The Sea Hawk . . . but in truth he got seasick as soon as he left the dock.

As a young woman of a certain class and time, Slim had looked out on the world and concluded the best thing for her was to marry a rich man. Most people wouldn’t have considered that a career, but she had pursued the life she sought with calculation and savvy. She had gotten what she wanted, and this was where it had led her. Hawks’s former wife had gone crazy, and now Slim herself appeared to be heading in that same direction.

There was only one way out: to marry another rich man. Finding him while still married to Hawks was going to be a challenge of great proportions. But Slim was up to the task.

Angry at her husband and deeply competitive, what could be sweeter revenge than an affair with Clark Gable.

Slim had a breezy beauty that felt thoroughly modern, paired with an elegance that was fitting for the magazine’s upscale audience and the fantasy its pages projected to its readers. Snow asked Slim to pose for Harper’s Bazaar. She did, and she was such a hit that her image graced the covers of four other magazines that year.

Slim left school at the age of 16 and became a Hollywood socialite . She was pursued romantically by Clark Gable, as well as Ernest Hemingway. Slim was also known for her iconic sense of style. With exceptional taste, Slim pursued an elegant, crisp style in all that she wore.

That was Slim’s way out of depression and despair—not drugs and booze, but a nonstop social life. New York nightlife was wild in the postwar years, and Slim jumped into it like she was diving into a swimming pool.

Slim did not see how her behavior might have driven her husband toward Pamela Churchill.

“She was sometimes too bright for somebody who wasn’t doing anything.- Annette Tapert”

4.Diana Vreeland- If you have gaps between your teeth, make them your most beautiful feature, love your self and make it shine

Shee served as fashion editor of Harpers magazine, and became editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine. The aesthetics were different from the trend of the times at that time, and many female amateurs with very personal characteristics were discovered and became stars. As high as possible.

She once said: "If you have gaps between your teeth, make them your most beautiful feature; if you are tall, wear high heels to make you as tall as possible. If your neck is long, show it off and dont hunch; if your nose is long, raise your head and make it yours." Unique. Feel free to expose your shortcomings and let your flaws become the most beautiful part of your body!”

5.Pamela Churchill- she knows how to raise social level with close relationship

She managed the elaborate curtsey before the monarchs. These were not star-crossed Shakespearean lovers come together in the darkness of war. Randolph whose father was Sir Winston Churchill told a friend in Pamela’s presence he was marrying her because he feared he would die in the war and wanted to leave a male heir. As far as Randolph was concerned, Pamela was little better than a broodmare.

Randolph was as fat as Pamela, larded down with booze and rich eating, but as a man his weight was unworthy of comment. His very first evening alone with the “red-headed tart,” he asked Pamela to marry him. The tall officer was impressive in bite-sized doses.

These were not star-crossed Shakespearean lovers come together in the darkness of war.

Randolph had gotten it into his swollen head that he was going to die in the war. In the next months the newlyweds moved from posting to posting as Randolph waited for a call to combat that did not come. That made him even more irritable. This itinerant, rootless life would have been difficult even in the flush of first love, but there was none of that. Almost any other groom would have waited a decent interval before resuming his womanizing, but Randolph was not about to give up any of his pleasures.

Displaying fortitude and patience, Pamela tried to make the most of her troubled marriage. When she became pregnant early in 1940 and Randolph went off to training camp, she moved in with her in-laws at Admiralty House, spending weekends with them at their Chequers estate. No question that it was socially advantageous to be spending time with the British politician on the verge of leading his nation in the greatest struggle of the twentieth century, but it was far more than that. The Churchills treated her in the intimate, sensitive way that her parents had not.

Winston liked having a pretty young woman around him, but beyond that, Pamela was special because she was a listener. That was no small matter. Other people pretended to listen, but often their minds wandered, or they sat figuring out what they would say in response. Pamela truly focused on the person before her with all of her attention, drawing the speaker out—though Winston needed no incentive to tell his many tales.

That spring the Germans invaded France, and Pamela’s father-in-law, Winston Churchill, became prime minister. Even as Nazi bombs rained down in the London night, personal life continued.

Sometimes a pregnancy brings a troubled marriage together, but not this time. Randolph was incapable of being emotionally solicitous of anyone beyond himself. When Pamela gave birth in a four-poster bed at Chequers on October 10, 1940, Randolph was off in the arms of one of his lovers. But at least he had the son he had long desired.

A man who had an elaborate series of lovers was generally esteemed, but a woman doing the same thing was shameless. Pamela thought she had gotten away with her affairs, but men were more vicious gossips than women, and they savaged Pamela mercilessly.

6.Gloria Guinness

To be one of Truman’s swans, it wasn’t enough that a woman be elegant, beautiful, and rich. She had to be amusing, and of all his friends, no one was more amusing than Gloria—sometimes too amusing

Gloria’s memories of her childhood were not about the arbitrary march of history into her life but of her mother and the nuns. “My mother, the Church, the nuns with their words and actions always strict, virtuous and clear.”

When her mother was not praying, she was working.

7.C.Z. Guest-better than the other swans, not pulled so terribly by the money, cover from ADHD,good skill for a good horse rider

C.Z. was so distracted and loud that a later generation of physicians might well have diagnosed her with ADHD and put her on meds. When she was ten years old, her teacher noted on her report card that she “needs to be very busy or she will gain superficial social superiority.”

The teachers were not about to furrow the brows of their rich charges with heavy learning, but even the light curriculum was too much for C.Z., who far preferred riding to studying.

Beauty had been C.Z.’s magic wand all her life. All she had to do was to wave it and she got what she wanted.

The auction grossed $812,275 ($5.3 million in today’s dollars), enough after commissions to stave off Winston’s creditors. There was one other lodestone hanging around his neck: Templeton. He sold the three-hundred-acre, fifty-five-room estate in Roslyn, New York, and bought a fifteen-and-a-half-acre estate in Old Westbury, naming the far smaller estate Templeton as if they had never left. C.Z. had her horses and her dogs and her gardens, and she went on as before, never talking about all that had happened.

8.Princess Lee Radziwill-jealous sister

As little time as Gianni spent with the boy, he wanted him to be his father’s clone. He pressed him to jump off the deck into the sea and perform other daredevil acts that Gianni did as a matter of course, but the boy would not do them.

As burdensome as Gianni’s duties were, he was not going to forsake his pleasures. Later that same summer, in August 1966, the Agnellis invited Truman on another cruise, this time a twenty-day journey through the islands off the coast of Yugoslavia. There were few more intriguing places to visit in Europe, and Truman should have had a fine time—but he didn’t. Nothing was good enough for him on that interminable cruise.

The one blessing was that Lee and Stanislaw “Stas” Radziwill were among other guests. Truman knew Lee’s older sister, Jackie, but as far as he was concerned, Lee was better in every way, and she was his newest swan. Truman simply loved her, and he could talk to her for hours.

Lee had a gilded lifestyle. She was married to Stanislaw Radziwill, a Polish prince who had left his native land with a title that no longer had any meaning, and she lived in two grand homes in England—and later a major apartment in Manhattan too. With her sister in the White House, she had to be careful how she acted, what she said, and to whom she said it. She must have known that Truman was an infamous gossip.

she told him the most painful secret of her life: she was wildly jealous of Jackie. It was natural that Lee would be somewhat covetous of a sister who was the First Lady and the most admired woman in the world, but her feelings went far beyond an understandable or controllable emotion. She was consumed with jealousy.

Lee had exquisite, expensive taste and an obsession with décor. In this quality and at this point in her life, she clearly outshone her elder sister, who had married a philandering Massachusetts politician whose family estates in Hyannis Port and Palm Beach looked downright primitive in comparison.

9. Marella Agnelli-to think big to contribute the artful building to the world

When Truman met Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto Agnelli in New York City in the late fifties, that all changed. Born an Italian princess, Marella was not only a member of the European nobility, she was married to Gianni Agnelli, heir to the immense Fiat fortune, the greatest company in Italy—and Pamela’s former lover.

The Agnelli family was a world within the world, and Marella entered into their inner sanctum knowing almost nothing about them. Shortly after the wedding, she decided to take an overnight train to Paris to go shopping. When she arrived at the Turin station and entered her compartment, she found towels and sheets with her and Gianni’s initials on them, her special soaps and creams, and a vase with fresh flowers. This had all been done beforehand by Gianni’s butler, Pasquale, and was an indication of what her life would be like as an Agnelli.

During the Second World War, Fiat produced an endless stream of tanks, machine guns, and vehicles to fuel the Axis war machine, and as it did, Giovanni built his fortune in an unprecedented way.

When seventy-nine-year-old Giovanni died in December 1945, Gianni might have assumed the leadership of Fiat or at least begun to learn seriously about the company so that one day he might be a knowledgeable leader. But the twenty-four-year-old heir had no interest in either one. He was delighted to have a loyal executive, sixty-three-year-old Vittorio Valletta, take control.

but there is no man who is more narcissistic than a Latin man.” And there was no Latin man more narcissistic than Gianni. He needed an heir, but he wasn’t about to share his wife with children running in and out of his life, disrupting everything.

Page designed gardens for some of the richest people in the world, and he saw what often happened to them. He cautioned Marella, “One must learn to serve something higher than us all, because if not, one may easily fall slave to the basest, most material aspects of one’s life.”

With the overwhelming success of the gardens of Villar Perosa, Marella moved on to what in essence was her life’s work, creating at least ten magnificent residences from Milan to Marrakech, from Corsica to Manhattan. Although they were only for her family, this was her way to “serve something higher than us all.”

10.Trumen

Truman returned to the States in January 1963 long enough to interview Perry’s sister and to travel once again out to Kansas to interview Perry and Dick on death row. Truman had done to Perry what he did to almost everyone he met either as friend or interviewee: he emotionally ingratiated himself with the killer until Perry opened up in a way he had to no one in his life. Sitting with him in his cell on death row, the author loved the tender, artistic, vulnerable side of Perry. But when he left him to go among his literary friends, he could be roundly dismissive of a man he knew would have killed again. Both of these feelings were true within Truman, and they pulled him apart. Truman needed to stay in intimate touch with the killers to write compellingly about their last months in prison. Truman said that he bribed an important official. It was a dangerous, daring thing to do, but Truman got the almost complete access he needed. Who did Dick and Perry have in their lives who cared about their thoughts and feelings other than Truman?(even the killer need someone really listen to them, so as the swans)

In Cold Blood was a massive literary and commercial success when it was published in January 1966, making Truman the most famous author in America. Although the author had no professional training in journalism, he had written a great work of narrative nonfiction. Although Truman was not the first author to use fictional techniques in a nonfiction work, in its sheer scope In Cold Blood was a groundbreaking piece of work. He told the tale in simple, evocative prose. An astute observer, Truman peppered the pages with vivid details. For readers of In Cold Blood, it was as if they were in that Kansas farmhouse when Perry and Dick killed the Clutter family and there when the murderers were hanged. When they finished, some readers began locking their doors and no longer trusted strangers.

if only Truman could talk to his swans, he believed he could soothe their rumpled feathers, but almost no one was willing to deal with him

“I am tired of Truman riding on my coattails to fame-Lee”

For the rest of her life, Joanne kept that remaining share of the ashes in a carved Japanese box on her mantelpiece. After her death in 2015, Joanne’s estate auctioned off Truman’s ashes—or, more accurately, a quarter of Truman’s ashes. The Julien’s auction house had certain qualms about putting the ashes up for sale, but when they thought of how the highly regarded Christie’s had auctioned Napoleon’s penis off in 1977 for $3,000, they felt better about the idea. Perhaps using Napoleon’s penis as a benchmark, they estimated the ashes would sell for between $4,000 and $6,000. Instead, they went for an astronomical $45,000. As for Joanne’s ashes, they were placed in the crypt next to the other quarter of Truman’s ashes, where they remain today.

What a marvelous set piece Truman would have made of this tale. Nothing in life was too bizarre for his scrutiny. If he was sitting over dinner with his swans, he would have regaled them with this business, spinning it out in all kinds of ways. Napoleon’s was not the best penis he would have ever seen—Time described it as looking like “a maltreated strip of buckskin shoelace”—but it had once been attached to the invader of Russia and ruler of half of Europe. And a quarter of Truman’s ashes had gone for fifteen times the price.(Like Napoleon’s penis like a maltreated strip of buckskin shoelace)

Truman understood the myriad ironies of his life better than anyone. He had written two books that will live, In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, but he had not finished his self-described masterpiece, Answered Prayers.

Brilliant of mind, merciless in ambition, shrewd in social relations, Truman believed that he could enter the swans’ domaine and leave with a chef d’oeuvre in his hand. But he got all tangled up in the swans’ world and in his own personal demons. In the end, Answered Prayers proved to be as much Truman’s story as it was the swans’.

People bid for Truman’s presence in death, and bid royally, just as they had in life. As long as people read Truman’s books, talk about him, and fight over some measure of his presence, he is still alive, beguiling the world with his stories.

#January Book Review by Consultant Clive

Thank you today for an amazing meeting. It was challenging book but the discussion was so vibrant and interesting we managed to discuss the real characters and the real sadness. The main attraction of today’s book was the author, Truman Capote. In the years following the publication of In Cold Blood in 1966, Capote was more sought-after than ever and established himself firmly as a member of the jet set glitterati. He developed a circle of female friends, whom he affectionately called his swans, who accompanied him to parties, on yachts and on trips around the world, as his supporters and confidantes. We discussed the sad lives of the swans and Capote.

Among the swans were Lee Radziwill, the sister of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, who was an aspiring actress and socialite, as well as Babe Paley, Slim Keith, Ann Woodward, CZ Guest, Gloria Guinness, Marella Agnelli and Pamela Harriman. All immensely rich, beautiful and regulars on the best-dressed list, they were all often seen out with Capote at New York events, despite shuttling between homes in the Hamptons and Venice by way of Paris.

The swans dominated the headlines: CZ Guest, a cover girl and muse to Andy Warhol and Salvador Dalí, rode a white horse into the ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria in 1955, Pamela Harriman married Winston Churchill’s son, before becoming the US ambassador in Paris. Slim Keith (who is credited with bringing Lauren Bacall to Hollywoods attention) even shared a husband with Harriman – Leland Hayward – who left the former for the latter in 1960.

What was the fuss all about?

Through his jet set social life, Capote had been gathering observations for a tell-all novel, Answered Prayers. The book, which Capote had been planning stages since 1958 was never completed. He allowed Esquire to publish four chapters of the unfinished novel. The first to appear, Mojave, ran as a self-contained short story and was well received, but the second, La Côte Basque 1965, marked the beginning of Capotes social suicide.

Based in part on the dysfunctional personal lives of Capotes friends, its much-discussed betrayal of trust alienated Capote from his swans, featured in the text – sometimes under pseudonyms but also by their real names. The chapter aired the dirty laundry of New Yorks elite, and spilled everything from gossip about Princess Margaret and the rest of the British royal family, to a description of Jackie Kennedy Onassis as "unrefined, exaggerated".

Capote lifted the lid on extramarital affairs, and even accused former showgirl Ann Woodward of murdering her husband. Its rumored that Ann Woodward was warned prematurely of the publication and content of the chapter, and killed herself with cyanide as a result. Many of the swans refused to speak to Capote ever again, resulting in almost complete social isolation for the writer. Today we are very fortunate to have had a small group of women who had strong opinions about the book. A big thank you to Emma, Florence, Lilly, Lydia, and Monica for offering amazing and though provoking contributions today because they all helped to make it a great start to 2025. The aftermath of the Esquire publication is said to have pushed Capote to new levels of drug abuse and alcoholism. As usual he was patronizing and vicious suggesting that the women were too stupid to know that the stories were about them, and his final statement on the backlash was, "All literature is gossip."